Page:Philosophical Transactions - Volume 054.pdf/245

 several sparks or lesser balls of light. When I first saw it, it was not far from the zenith, from whence it moved, not very swiftly, till at about the height of 30° above the horizon it expired. In about 2′, it was followed by an hollow rumbling noise, pretty loud, and so much like remote thunder, that several persons in their houses, who did not see the Meteor, took it to be thunder; as others, within doors, who saw only the ﬂash, and not the body of the Meteor, thought it lightened. But as there was no thunder nor lightening before or after, nor any clouds likely to produce them, as I was well assured, being then abroad, I question not but this report was occasioned by the explosion of the Meteor. And this is confirmed by the great extent of this sound, which was heard in several places above 80 miles distant from each other. And from hence, as well as from the length of time between the light and the noise, it may be collected that the Meteor must have been very high in the atmosphere.

II. A Meteor on the 24th of November 1742, in the Southern parts of New England.

In New Haven, in Connecticut, one man saw a ball of fire about 4 or 6 inches in diameter, passing along from the South-west to the North-east, and a stream of white, bright, and clear fire followed it, of near the same bigness, and of considerable length. Then the ball broke into sundry small pieces, and vanished with a kind of flash; and, a full minute after, he heard a noise, much like that of rumbling thunder, and, he says, about as long again as a clap of thunder usually is. — Sundry people at Rehoboth, in this province [Massachusetts] saw a ball of about